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Source: Trump Ready To Recognize Russia's Control Of Crimea; U.S. And Iran To Hold Second Round Of Nuclear Talks; Houthis Vow To Keep Hitting Israel, U.S. After Deadly Strikes; Pentagon: U.S. To Scale Down Military Presence In Syria; Supreme Court Pauses Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act; Democratic Senator Meets With Abrego Garcia In El Salvador; Trump Sees Strongest Approval Over Immigration; U.S., Ukraine Make Progress On Critical Minerals Deal; China Places Export Restrictions Aon Some Rare Earths Minerals; White House Economic Adviser Declines To Say If President Trump Can Fire Federal Reserve Chair; Mexican Care Rebrands "Cafe Americano" As "Cafe Mexicano"; JD Vance Attends Good Friday Service At The Vatican; Scientists Hope To Ease Environmental Destruction With AI. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired April 19, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:00:30]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom. The Trump administration signals it's ready to hand a major win to Vladimir Putin when it comes to a ceasefire in Ukraine. We'll have the latest developments in a live report.
Nuclear talks are picking back up between Iran and the U.S. Look at what's on the line in the high stakes discussions. Plus, the latest in the case of the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. We'll hear from the senator who visited him and how President Trump is reacting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin with a diplomatic move that Ukraine has declared a nonstarter but the U.S. apparently is willing to accept. A diplomatic source says President Donald Trump is ready to recognize Russia's control over Crimea. The source says that's included in the framework of a U.S. peace proposal presented to both sides and to Europeans this week. The source cautions that more details need to be worked out in upcoming talks.
Now that's happening after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. should be ready to walk away from the negotiations if peace isn't reached soon. The President didn't rule it out but says he doesn't want it to come to that. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say, you're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people and we're going to just take a pass. But hopefully we won't have to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: We're also getting reports of a new barrage of Russian strikes across Ukraine. They've reportedly killed at least one person and left 16 others injured overnight.
For more, Nada Bashir joins us from London. So Nada, lots to dig into here. Let's start with those latest controversial comments from the Trump administration on a peace proposal.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Look, and we know from officials and sources that there has been mounting frustration from within the Trump administration that we haven't seen the kind of progress in those talks and negotiations to bring an end to the war that U.S. President Donald Trump would have hoped to have seen.
He certainly came into office full of confidence that he would be the President to secure a ceasefire and an end overall to the conflict in Ukraine. Clearly, though, those talks and negotiations have been stalling. They clearly remain gaps.
And as you mentioned, we've heard those remarks now from the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, reflecting that mounting frustration but also the mounting pressure now coming from the Trump administration on both sides to now work toward securing a final agreement, a final deal warning that the U.S. could step away and abandon those efforts to mediate some kind of deal if progress isn't seen, according to Rubio, in the coming days.
Now as you mentioned and as we heard there, those remarks were somewhat echoed by the President himself speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. He said that he wants to see enthusiasm from both sides, from both Ukraine and Russia, to secure a deal to bring an end to the war.
He did say he felt that he would see that soon but again reiterated that the U.S. would be prepared to walk away and step away from mediation if that is not the case. Unclear whether or not that means that the U.S. could potentially step away from any commitments of support it has made thus far and there was no clear deadline as to when exactly President Trump and the Trump administration wants to see that progress being made.
But, of course, we did also hear notes of cautious optimism, some positive outlook from the Vice President. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Those negotiations, I won't prejudge them but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BASHIR: Now at this stage, of course, we know that a broad framework has been presented to both sides. According to sources familiar with that framework, that deal would see a ceasefire on the front lines but it would also controversially see the United States recognizing Russian control over occupied Crimea. That would be a huge win for Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia's illegal annexation of the Ukrainian territory back in 2014.
So it would be a significant concession. And, of course, as you mentioned, Ukrainian officials have described this as a nonstarter. But at this stage, officials and sources familiar with the framework and the talks that are ongoing say that they believe there has been some movement toward closing those gaps.
[04:05:01]
But gaps still remain in those talks and discussions that officials are working to narrow those gaps at this stage. We are expecting, according to officials, for U.S. officials to meet and continue discussions with their European counterparts over the coming days. And, of course, the urgency of securing a deal has only been underscored by those overnight strikes that we've seen once again in Ukraine. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right, I appreciate you bringing us up to date on all of this.
Nada Bashir, thanks so much.
Iran's foreign minister has arrived in Rome ahead of the second round of nuclear talks with the U.S. today. U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff is also expected to be there. And as they did before, Omani officials will mediate. U.S. officials have waffled on setting stricter lines on Iran, with some calling for its entire nuclear program to be fully dismantled, not just the weapons component. Iran is accusing the Trump administration of sending mixed signals.
All right, I want to bring in H.A. Hellyer, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. He joins us from Cairo, Egypt.
Good to see you again. Thanks so much for being here with us. So first, on the timing of all of this. Why are we seeing progress now, even in the form of indirect talks?
H.A. HELLYER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: Well, thank you, Kim, for inviting me. Always a pleasure to be in your program. I think that when you look at how things have developed in the broader Middle East region over the past few months, you've seen Trump's interest and attention get focused in particular ways.
When it comes to the ceasefire in Gaza, it started with that. Of course, it didn't continue with that, but it did start there. And, of course, when it comes to Iran, there's quite a long history with Iran in terms of coming to some sort of arrangement from within the Trump administration.
That arrangement, by the way, meaning ideal or meaning war, but the interest is definitely there. And I think you've seen particularly over the past month or so a lot of attention being given to this by particularly Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, who has been involved in a number of different files that even go beyond the Middle East. So I think that we see that being the main reason as to why this is happening now.
Again, indirect talks but still significant and symbolic.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So we've heard from the Trump administration that this would be different from the 2015 deal under the Obama administration. Stronger, according to Donald Trump. But there have, certainly, as I said earlier, been mixed signals sent in terms of their actual demands so far, right?
HELLYER: There have indeed. And what it seems right now is that actually the broad contours of any deal that is likely isn't going to look all that different, frankly, from the JCPOA, the previous deal that actually the then-Trump administration five or six years ago pulled out of, right?
So what details are going to be quite so different? We don't know. There are mixed signals that have been presented in public on the level of any program that Iran will be allowed to embark upon. What sort of restraints, what sort of limits?
You could argue that this is down to a negotiation tactic by sending these different signals in public but frankly, we just don't know.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And if it is similar to what we've seen before, obviously, then that would mean it wouldn't mean a dismantling of all of Iran's nuclear capabilities. But for Iran here, you know, the consequences if talks collapse, they seem pretty big here. I mean, we've seen the country's proxies from Yemen to Gaza to Lebanon essentially being decimated.
The Assad regime has fallen. And Israel, of course, has shown that it can strike deep inside Iran at will. So as Donald Trump himself might put it, Tehran has no cards to play here. I mean, Iran isn't exactly negotiating from a position of strength.
HELLYER: No, Iran is definitely negotiating from one of the weakest positions in many years. And, of course, it's not simply if talks fail that is the status quo ante. Rather, I think people need to realize that the potential for a new conflict to erupt on the scale of violence that we haven't seen with regards to tension with Iran in quite some time is very much there.
You have within the Trump administration, those that are calling for a deal. You have those within the Trump administration calling for another type of maximum pressure, i.e. war. And you have many in the Israeli political establishment that is a key player within this wider discussion, also calling for a war, not calling for a deal.
[04:10:02]
There was a very clear signal of that I think in recent weeks when Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the White House and looked very visibly uncomfortable when President Trump talked about Iran, because this isn't the approach that I think is clear that he wanted. I think he wanted a much more aggressive approach, one that would be more aligned with how Israel sees the region more generally.
You've seen Israel carry out this approach when it comes to Lebanon, when it comes to Syria, a very preemptive, aggressive approach which certainly isn't good for anybody in the short to long term. But I think that that's the sort of approach that the Israelis but also this pro-war wing would like to see the Trump administration embark upon.
But so far, it's been very clear that Trump himself. But the administration for the time being, is looking for a deal. The question about what sort of a deal is very important but also people should be aware that if a deal isn't come to the potential for war is very real.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Interesting. We'll see if anything comes out of these latest talks.
Really appreciate getting your analysis on all of this, H.A. Hellyer. Thank you so much.
HELLYER: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Houthi rebels are vowing to keep attacking Israel and the U.S. after deadly U.S. strikes in Yemen. The U.S. airstrikes hit an oil port on Thursday, reportedly killing at least 74 people and injuring another 171. The U.S. says it was trying to disrupt Houthi revenue streams as part of an expanded American military campaign.
The Houthis say they fired a ballistic missile at a military site near Israel's international airport. Israel confirms it did intercept a missile launch from Yemen. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say Houthis shot down a U.S. drone on Friday, the fifth in a month.
The U.S. will scale down its military presence in Syria by more than half in the coming months. That's according to the Pentagon, which confirms CNN's earlier reporting that less than a thousand U.S. troops will be left there after the move. Officials say U.S. forces have significantly degraded ISIS in Syria but they'll continue to help allies fight the militant group.
President Donald Trump moved to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria during his first term but they were redeployed later after pushback from the Pentagon.
A Democratic senator is back from El Salvador and sharing what he learned during his meeting with a Maryland man wrongly deported from the U.S. We'll have the latest.
Plus, what voters think of President Trump's immigration crackdown. We'll bring you the numbers next. Stay with us.
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[04:16:39]
BRUNHUBER: On Friday, students at Florida State University were allowed to return to the site of Thursday's mass shooting. Many collected belongings left behind when they ran from the scene. The university also held a vigil to honor the victims of the shooting.
The school's president spoke out about the victims and said, it's tragic that, quote, "We have to continue to endure this ridiculous violence for no apparent reason". And students also expressed their feelings.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just surreal, you know? It feels like it's in a horror movie. It should be out of a horror movie. You know, you just don't -- things like this should not happen in real life. And just to see that this is what it takes to bring people together, to bring like flowers, places to all be one. I mean, Florida states already a united place but it's just -- it shouldn't take a shooting to make everyone feel more, you know, together.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Investigators are trying to determine the motive behind the attack, which killed two and injured five others.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CHIEF LAWRENCE REVELL, TALLAHASSEE POLICE: At this point, there does not appear to be any connection at all between the shooter and any of the victims. So we will continue to vet that out. We'll continue to follow the leads that come in.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Police say the man suspected of the shooting will be charged with first degree murder and other charges.
After several temporary legal victories for President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, the Supreme Court handed the administration a big setback early Saturday. In a brief order, the nation's highest court temporarily blocked deportations of Venezuelan migrants in Texas under the Alien Enemies Act. Attorneys for the migrants filed the appeal after a Washington, D.C. judge declined to pause the flights, saying he didn't think he had the power to do so.
Now this, as an appeals court, paused the judge's plans to hold the administration in contempt for allegedly defying his orders in the high profile deportation dispute. Meanwhile, another judge placed a short term restraining order against the deportation of international students. It temporarily prevents the expulsion of 133 foreign students from at least five countries. The students had filed a lawsuit to get their visas back.
And Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen is back in the U.S. after meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador. President Donald Trump made it clear he's irritated with the senator's efforts. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
TRUMP: Look, he's a fake. I know him, I know them all. They're all fake. And they have no interest in that prisoner. That prisoner's record is unbelievably bad.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Van Hollen told reporters Friday that Abrego Garcia had been moved out of CECOT, El Salvador's notoriously brutal prison. But he said he remains traumatized by his time there.
CNN Senior U.S. National Correspondent David Culver has more on their meeting and the Trump administration's response.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A photo op that is sparking political spin from all sides. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen sitting next to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident whose deportation has become a flashpoint in President Trump's mass deportation efforts and his clashes with the courts.
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: This case is not just about one man. It's about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States of America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.
[04:20:01]
CULVER (voice-over): Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia late Thursday in a San Salvador hotel.
VAN HOLLEN: I called Jennifer to tell her that I had met with Kilmar. And I told her what he said to me, which was first and foremost that he missed her and his family.
CULVER (voice-over): Abrego Garcia's wife described the news of her husband's condition as a prayer answered, adding that she's relieved to know her husband is alive. Deported last month despite a 2019 U.S. immigration court order prohibiting his return to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was put on a plane and sent straight to El Salvador's notorious terrorism confinement center, CECOT.
The administration first called Abrego Garcia's deportation a mistake in court, but now stand by it. In the Oval Office Monday, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sat next to President Donald Trump. Both leaders defending Abrego Garcia's deportation and imprisonment, with President Trump deferring to others to explain. PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us.
NAYIB BUKELE, SALVADORAN PRESIDENT: We're not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country.
CULVER (voice-over): On Wednesday, Senator Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador, meeting with the country's Vice President. And on Thursday, he tried to access CECOT without permission.
We visited CECOT just days before Van Hollen attempted his visit. Officials took us into Sector 4, where suspected MS-13 and 18th Street gang members are kept. Some convicted, others still awaiting trial. But we were not allowed in other sectors, where the newest deportees, including Abrego Garcia, are believed to be held.
Perhaps most surprising is that the first mention of Van Hollen's meeting with Abrego Garcia came from President Bukele. He posted several photos with a seemingly sarcastic caption. "Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the death camps and torture, now sipping margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador." He then added that Abrego Garcia gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody.
VAN HOLLEN: As we were talking, one of the government people came over and deposited two other glasses on the table, with ice and, I don't know if it was salt or sugar around the top, but they look like margaritas. Let me just be very clear, neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us.
CULVER (voice-over): The photos Bukele selected intentional, according to a source close with the Salvadoran President. One of them clearly showing Abrego Garcia arm tattoos. The source saying that that is intended to hint at gang affiliations which have been publicly alleged but not legally proven.
Conservative allies say the meeting is proof that Democrats are siding with a suspected MS-13 gang member but neither the U.S. nor El Salvador has filed formal charges against Abrego Garcia. And his attorneys maintain he has no gang ties and yet he remains in Salvadoran custody.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CULVER (on-camera): Now, one thing that stands out to me from Senator Van Hollen's press conference is he says, Abrego Garcia, as of several days ago, is no longer being held in CECOT, the terrorism confinement center, that instead he was moved to another prison. The reason that's significant is Salvadoran officials have told me repeatedly, if you're considered to be a gang member, then you are to go to CECOT.
The other prisons in El Salvador are meant for lesser criminals. And so it's a bit contradictory if they're going to still continue to consider Abrego Garcia to be a gang member or even, as President Bukele has suggested, a terrorist if he's not being held in a facility that's meant for that level of criminal. BRUNHUBER: Now as for where voters stand on the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CNN's Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten breaks down the numbers for us.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Let's just talk about the most basic metric you can look at, which is Donald Trump's net approval rating on immigration. In his first term, he was underwater at this point, 12 points more of the public, in fact, disapproved than approved of the job he was doing.
But look at where we are now in April of 2025, he's actually slightly above water at plus 1 point. This is very much unlike the economy where he was above water in term one and is now below water. On immigration, it's the exact opposite of what's going on. And more than that, the numbers have actually stayed pretty steady since January, since, of course, he came into office.
A different way that we can look at this is compare what was going on under Joe Biden, which what is going on under Donald Trump. And the way we can do this is, on immigration, what track are we on, the right track or the wrong track?
Back in December, just 14 percent of the public said we were on the right track. 62 percent, my goodness gracious, the vast majority said we were on the wrong track. Look at where we are now in April though. Look at this. 45 percent of the country says we're on the right track compared to just 42 percent who were on the wrong track.
So the plurality now say we're on the right track when it comes to immigration. Very much unlike what we saw under Joe Biden, now under Donald Trump, the plurality say we're on the right track, not on the wrong track when it comes to immigration policy.
[04:25:03]
So this is a great question, deport all undocumented immigrants. That is voters favoring a government effort to deport all 11 million. Look at where we are now in 2025, 56 percent, the majority of voters agree with this policy, supported, just 43 percent opposed.
That is a massive rise from where we were in 2016 when, of course, Donald Trump was running for the Republican nomination the first time around when it was just 38 percent. The American public is much more so on Donald Trump's side now than back when he was running the first time around.
Now, of course, this is the public at large, right? Let's dive a little bit more into the cross tabs and this should give you a very interesting look at where the public is, all right? Deport more immigrants here illegally. Well, not much of a surprise, Jake. 90 percent of Republicans agree with that.
But look in the middle of the electorate, look here. We get 61 percent of Independents agreeing with it, the clear majority. And how about among Democrats? Even there, you get about a third of Democrats agreeing with the idea that we should deport more immigrants who are here illegally.
So, yes, there is some specific issue polling which might not necessarily look great for Donald Trump but when you look specifically at immigration and you dive into the cross tabs and you look at Democrats, Independents and Republicans, it's not much of a surprise that at this particular point in time, the slight, it is slight but still the plurality Americans give Donald Trump the thumbs up on immigration, which is very much unlike what we see with his policies at large and certainly on the economy.
BRUNHUBER: American citizen says he and his wife were detained for hours by U.S. border agents without explanation. The couple was driving back into the U.S. on Sunday after a short trip to Canada. The U.S. Border Patrol in Vermont selected them for a secondary inspection.
Bachir Atallah, originally from Lebanon, says he was never told why they were being held. Unsure of what was happening, Atallah says he started to have chest pains at one point. Officials say these accusations are blatantly false. They say Border Patrol officers acted within protocol.
The U.S. and Ukraine moved ahead toward their deal on critical minerals this week. But could the agreement be in jeopardy now that the U.S. signaled a possible retreat from peace talks? That and more coming up ahead. Stay with us.
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[04:30:37]
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
A quick recap of the stories we're following in Ukraine at this hour. A diplomatic source says the White House is ready to recognize Russia's control of Crimea. That's despite the fact that Ukraine has repeatedly said it won't cede any territory to Moscow.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to see enthusiasm from both Ukraine and Russia to end the war quickly. That's after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. should give up on diplomacy in Ukraine if peace isn't reached soon. That's happening days after the U.S. and Ukraine signed a memorandum of intent to pursue their deal on critical minerals. The White House has said it sees privileged access to Ukraine's natural resources as a means of repayment for U.S. military support.
All right, for more on this, I'm joined by Suriya Jayanti, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. And before that, she served for 10 years as a U.S. diplomat, including at the -- energy chief at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. And she's also currently the managing director of a U.S.-Ukrainian energy company and the CEO of a nuclear development company working in Ukraine.
Really appreciate having you on and taking advantage of your expertise in this. So just on the minerals deal, we've been close before. Any confidence that a deal will actually happen, particularly in light of the Trump administration's latest threats about basically washing their hands of a peace deal?
SURIYA JAYANTI, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S EURASIA CENTER: I think that the MOU that was signed earlier this week, Thursday, between the United States and Ukraine, shows that there is some interest in moving forward possibly on both sides. It's important to note, however, that the MOU is a non-binding agreement to negotiate going forward.
Trump has been very bullish on when an agreement may be signed said as early as perhaps the 25th or 26th of April. But I think that that's probably extremely ambitious. Any agreement would take the form of a functioning treaty and would therefore need to be ratified by the parliament in Ukraine, the Rada, as well as also the U.S. Congress, in order to be binding. So, potentially a deal will happen but almost certainly no time soon.
BRUNHUBER: Right. I mean, this is a bit speculative but could a minerals deal go ahead independent of a peace deal? In other words, you know, for the Trump administration, this would just be a kind of a business deal, regardless of who actually controls Ukraine?
JAYANTI: I think that's the most likely scenario. I think that Trump has been quite clear that he views the money that the United States has put toward Ukrainian defense as something that was ill-spent and therefore wants to find a way, in his words, essentially to get it back.
It's worth noting that most of the money that the United States has contributed to the Ukrainian defense effort has actually gone to U.S. companies. 70 percent of the many billions has gone straight back into U.S. pockets. But nonetheless, Trump views it as money ill-spent and gave something of a campaign promise that he would recoup that money from Ukraine. And the minerals deal seems to be the preferred way for the White House to do that.
On the Ukrainian side, there are benefits to a potential deal. So it's not a lose-lose for Ukraine, even if it's not a win-win. Certainly Ukraine could use some funds with which to reconstruct and its natural resources are absolutely the most probable source of that money. Ukraine has vast natural resources, natural gas, minerals, as well as fantastic geography, by which I mean it can easily export power to a power hungry and insecure Europe.
So there's a lot of potential there. And having a reconstruction fund set up that functions essentially as a trusteeship over some of those funds would, in theory, help them be managed professionally toward increasing the quantity but also protect it a little bit against politics and also against the possibilities of corruption. Nonetheless, it must be remembered and it must be maintained that this deal shouldn't be punitive.
Ukraine hasn't done anything wrong. Russia invaded it entirely unprovoked. And if a deal is designed in such a way as to functionally or effectively or intentionally punish Ukraine, then it is a lose-lose for Ukraine even if it does get a little bit of foreign investment as a consequence.
[04:35:11]
BRUNHUBER: Right, and that's the big -- the question. Ukrainians are reacting to these developments. I want to share what a few people have been saying so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I am against signing any minerals deal. I'm Ukrainian. I believe Ukrainians should benefit from it, not America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): It is plain blackmail. We have the right to defend ourselves. Nobody should dictate and tell us what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I hope the deal will eventually be signed and will not be humiliating and barbarian, will not rob Ukraine. That at the end of the day, it will be a cooperation that will benefit all sides. Cooperating is always better than fighting.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So mixed views there. But from a political standpoint, do you think there's a danger here that President Zelenskyy will face blowback diplomatically from Ukrainians who feel he's selling out?
JAYANTI: Absolutely. I would say Zelenskyy has very few safe political paths at the moment. He's a bit besieged on all sides. It's worth remembering that the Ukraine has not -- excuse me -- Ukraine has not forgotten -- Ukrainians have not forgotten the Budapest memorandum.
Ukraine had the world's third largest nuclear arsenal and it gave it away as a deal with the United States for the sake of global security. In exchange, the Budapest memorandum included security guarantees that the United States would protect Ukraine if, for example, Russia invaded.
Under the last White House administration, those guarantees were not honored and the -- for want of a better word, excuse, was that they weren't actually guarantees, they were just assurances and therefore not binding on the United States. So, Ukrainians have a reasonable basis for skepticism and a reasonable concern that this is actually just a smash and grab effort by the United States.
Zelenskyy, therefore, has to tread a careful path. I don't honestly see how he will do that, although he certainly better at navigating these shoals than many presidents are. I think we're looking at a time of political upheaval in Ukraine in general. The war has now gone on over three years.
Ukrainians, while remaining resolute, are tired. Their economy is in trouble indeed, in some places in tatters. And to have the United States then come in and look like it is essentially doing a colonial seizure of Ukraine's assets, yes, is a huge political problem. And now add to that the fact that critical infrastructure, which in theory is included in the scope of a deal and has been included in the drafts we've seen thus far of what a final deal might look like, is considered a national asset.
It belongs to the people of Ukraine and it's unconstitutional to privatize it. So unless there is a considerable political change in Ukraine, many of the things that the U.S. is pushing for are really unpalatable there --
BRUNHUBER: Yes.
JAYANTI: -- politically and perhaps legally impossible.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. We'll have to see whether a deal materializes. And importantly, as you say, what the conditions of those deals, what that deal entails.
Suriya Jayanti, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, thank you so much for being here with us.
JAYANTI: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: The focus on rare Earth minerals indicates how critical they are to modern technology. China dominates the rare Earth market and now it's using export restrictions on some of those minerals to fight back against Donald Trump's trade war.
CNN's Ivan Watson has this report from Hong Kong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a computer mall in Hong Kong. It sells everything from security cameras to desktop computers and phones. And almost all of this technology is made with critically important elements called rare earths.
THOMAS KRUEMMER, EDITOR, RARE EARTH OBSERVER: Everything I can switch on and off would not really work without rare earth.
WATSON (voice-over): Take a smartphone, for example.
WATSON: Rare earths are part of essential components in a standard iPhone. They're in the microphone, which is this tiny piece here. They're also in the motor that vibrates the phone when you get a phone call.
WATSON (voice-over): And guess which country has cornered the market on rare earths. China. According to the International Energy Agency, China refines more than 90 percent of the world's rare earths.
On April 4th, after the Trump administration began piling tariffs on Chinese goods, Beijing announced export controls on 7 of 17 rare earth materials, saying the measures are needed "to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation".
[04:40:12]
GRACELIN BASKARAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: China's export controls on April 4th were retaliation at one of America's greatest vulnerabilities.
WATSON (voice-over): Rare Earths aren't just used in consumer technology. The Pentagon says around 900 pounds of the stuff are used in the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter. In 2010, the U.S. government Accountability Office warned Chinese rare earths were being used in Abrams tanks and U.S. Navy ships.
BASKARAN: So we are entirely beholden to China. I mean, they're weaponizing it in a trade war is what is happening, right? So we are using tariffs, they are using minerals.
WATSON (voice-over): In this executive order this week, President Trump wrote, U.S. dependence on China for rare earths and other critical materials "raises the potential for risks to national security, defense readiness, price stability and economic prosperity and resilience".
The U.S. has only one rare earth mine operating in California. Since 2020, the Pentagon invested more than $400 million trying to establish domestic rare earth supply chains. But experts say it will take years and huge investment for the U.S. to catch up with China's rare earth monopoly.
In the meantime --
JIM KENNEDY, PRESIDENT, THREE CONSULTING: If China literally cuts you off, you got six months of inventory and you just turn the lights out and go home.
WATSON (voice-over): Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, some in Mexico are getting bitter notes from the United States immigration policy. Coming up, how Mexican business owners are serving up a little revenge. Stay with us.
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[04:45:04]
BRUNHUBER: The White House's top economic adviser is declining to say if President Trump can or should fire the Federal Reserve chair. Instead, he says he wants to look into new legal analysis. Trump took a swing at Federal Chair Jerome Powell on Friday over interest rates.
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TRUMP: I keep hearing about prices and inflation. Prices are coming down, not going up. Only the fake news says they're going up. The only thing that's even are interest rates. And if we had a Fed chairman that understood what he was doing, interest rates would be coming down, too. He should bring them down.
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BRUNHUBER: The President suggested on Thursday that he has the power to fire Powell, but many experts say he doesn't. The Federal Reserve is supposed to remain independent of political influence. President Trump appointed Powell to the job during his first term.
Well, there's new pushback in Mexico against Donald Trump's tariffs. A smooth, espresso based coffee drink is getting a political rebrand. CNN's Valeria Leon has details.
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VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A simple coffee order in Mexican cafes now an act of rebellion against U.S. policies. The traditional Americano, a shot of espresso with added hot water, is getting a rebrand, swapping the name to cafe Mexicano.
SCARLETT LINDEMAN, OWNER OF CAFE CICATRIZ: If my staff wants to rename the Americano Mexicano, then we can do that.
LEON (voice-over): Scarlett is the owner of Cafe Cicatriz in Mexico City. She opened the spot eight years ago after moving here from her native New York.
LINDEMAN: If you know Spanish, that's the language of the kitchen, because it's mostly undocumented Mexican immigrants.
LEON (voice-over): A culinary studies graduate inspired by her interest in how migration influences the kitchen, she soon became a supporter of the movement to rename the Americano.
LINDEMAN: Because words really carry power. Like, they carry meaning and they're powerful. So if someone symbolically wants to shift the name as a form of resistance, then all power to them. I think it's really cool.
LEON (voice-over): The trend, part of a long tradition of renaming products to protest unpopular government policies. Just like in 2003, when some American companies decided to rename French fries "freedom fries," with France refusing to join the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
LEON: Mexico's rebranding movement is meant to rally behind national industries to protest the Trump administration's tariffs on Mexican exports.
LEON (voice-over): These buy local initiatives kicked off last month by the Pannela Coffee Shop in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where the owner, Ivan Cevero, posted an Instagram call to action to oppose U.S. tariffs.
IVAN CEVERO, OWNER OF PANNELA PANADERIA DE BARRIO (through translator): In Pannela, it's no longer called cafe Americano. It's now called cafe Mexicano.
LEON (voice-over): Many of those supporting the name change are frustrated with the United States' crackdown on immigration and the criminalization of undocumented migrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're not happy with what's happening on our northern border. As a country and at least as the state of Oaxaca, with them imposing tariffs on us, this is an act of protest.
LEON (voice-over): Mexican coffee consumers now preferring to fuel their day with a Mexicano rather than the unwelcome reminder of U.S. tariffs and the Americano.
Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, good news for gamers, Nintendo says U.S. tariffs won't raise the price of its new gaming device. On Friday, Nintendo confirmed it will launch the Switch 2 in the U.S. for $450. Earlier this month, the company said tariffs could force it to raise that price. Despite maintaining the original price for the Switch 2, Nintendo officials say that accessories may cost more than originally planned.
Scientists are another step closer to protecting marine life but with the help from surprising technology. After the break, how AI may be the answer to stopping oil spills. Stay with us.
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[04:53:12]
BRUNHUBER: As the Vatican celebrated Good Friday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his family were in the crowd at Saint Peter's Basilica. Despite Pope Francis criticizing the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts, the Vice President is expected to meet with Vatican officials later today. Pope Francis wasn't at Friday's service and isn't expected to be at the meeting with Vance.
But on Thursday, the Pope visited a prison in Rome and you can see him in this video from the event. As the Pope recovers from double pneumonia, cardinals are leading many Vatican events, including Sunday's Easter service. Now, there's no word if the Pope will be there.
Artificial intelligence is being used to help automatically detect oil spills at sea. Advocates are calling the technology a game changer for combating marine pollution.
CNN's Isabel Rosales is following the story for us.
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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 15 years ago this month, the deepwater horizon oil spill caused one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
TONY HAYWARD, FORMER BP CEO: The explosion and fire aboard the deepwater horizon and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico never should have happened. And I'm deeply sorry that it did.
ROSALES (voice-over): The explosion of BP's oil rig killed 11 people and spewed about 168 million gallons of oil into the gulfs waters over 87 days, impacting hundreds of miles of coastline. In the following years, one study found thousands of animals still contain traces of oil pollution. And while that one was the biggest, hundreds of smaller spills happen every year.
Scientists today hope to mitigate the environmental destruction of any future oil spills by spotting them as soon as possible, with the help of artificial intelligence.
[04:55:02]
The Miros Group, a Norwegian marine data specialist, is utilizing AI to assess the sea state around offshore oil installations. Their goal is to catch oil contaminations early.
MARIUS FIVE AARSET, MIROS GROUP CEO: We do an automatic 24/7 detection that would give the operators an alert that there is a probable oil spill taking place.
ROSALES (voice-over): The system creates an image of the sea surface using traditional maritime radars. Since oil calms the sea surface, the typical ripples caused by wind would become flat in the event of an oil spill. AI looks at the wave measurements to detect any flat areas. It then uses analytics to assess the damage and extent of the spill.
AARSET: And so when you know that there's a potential oil spill taking place and you know the surface current and you measure the wind regularly, you can do an early assessment of the drift of such an oil field, which is really important to know which way it is going before you start coping with it.
ROSALES (voice-over): While the technology can't stop oil spills from happening, advocates hope AI can help mitigate the consequences. A step toward combating marine pollution.
Isabel Rosales, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
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